Cooper (he's first because he's the oldest….and provides the most bits!)
Back during the drama of starting school (he's made a total turnaround by the way and LOVES school! Now I'm worried he's not going to want to come back home for homeschool Kindergarten ; ) one excuse he used was "I can't go to school, I'm a farmer!" Classic Cooper….Then a couple days ago we saw a local farmer plowing a field. Cooper said "I thought Mr. Oatman's tractor was broke down?" When I told him it had been fixed he said (perplexed), "But how could it get fixed? I'M the motor fixer!"
Cooper thinks he's pretty entertaining and lives to make us laugh or react, but he hasn't quite learned the border between funny and silly. At one point while he was doing something silly….like making faces while running around, or yelling "we are the fork forks" at the table while pounding the forks on the table with Ace, or talking in that high pitched whiney voice just for fun or…well you get the idea… Dalton told him "Cooper you are weird," to which Cooper replied "No Dad I'm funny." Right…..
We've been having trouble with Cooper wetting the bed, like every night. It's exhausting. We get up every night in the middle of the night to take Cooper to the bathroom. From my bed to his I repeat hopefully, "I hope he's dry, I hope he's dry, I hope he's dry!" Sometimes he is and it's joyous. I pick him up, carry him to the bathroom, let him go then carry him back to bed (and he's heavy!). But lots of nights I arrive to find him lying in a wet spot, fast asleep. Then I have to carry him to the bathroom without contaminating myself, change his clothes and attempt to take him back to bed. Usually though he winds up in our bed; I can't blame him, I wouldn't want to sleep on a towel on a wet spot either. Some nights though he comes to my bed before I wake up. One night I opened my eyes to find him at my bedside, and he whispered (matter of factly) "I wet the bed, but don't worry, I changed underwear," then he climbed on in. I had to laugh at the midnight confession.
Cooper is loving school now and apparently is just as entertaining there as he is at home. When I went in for parent teacher conferences they told me he is their best helper and very advanced (yay). He loves helping others and listens and follows directions really well for centers. The teacher's aide told us that she went to a center one day and told him that he was running out of time and should get busy and his reply was "Oh I'm so sorry Mrs. Thorne, I'll get right to that." He talks like such a little man. And they said that he really thinks about his answers on a do you prefer question at the beginning of each day. He's weak in his scissor skills (I've not been great about helping with this), and rushes through coloring to get to fun stuff (again, we don't color much here). The teacher's aide said she went to check on him and he had cut through something he wasn't supposed to. She asked him what happened and his reply was "Well as you can see here, Mrs. Thorne I just cut right through it." Haha! The last weakness discussed was giving excuses to not do things. She'd told me this before and expounded on it a bit in the conference. If Cooper doesn't want to do something he'll come to the teacher and try to reason with her about it. For example: He was supposed to color 6 circles for a caterpillar. He came to her before starting and said "I only color 3. So I'll color three today and then I'll color the other 3 tomorrow." She told him he had to color all of them and his reply was "No you see, I color 3 today and 3 tomorrow." Thankfully she was able to talk him into doing it all. He also apparently says the I told him he doesn't have to do certain things. It was good we met with them because Cooper now knows that we talk, so I think his excuses have lessened (hope so anyway.) Then the other day he brought home a paper with a note, typical Cooper behavior. I love it.
The boys were working on their play house and Cooper said they were fixing the roof and putting sparkles on it. I asked him why, since boy houses aren't supposed to have sparkles. His reply was classic Cooper. He thought a moment and said "Because girls like sparkles so they'll like it and come inside." Sounds like a girl trap! Always thinking, that boy.
Cooper is the ring bearer in Merann's upcoming wedding. He is very excited and taking his job very seriously. A few weeks ago we went to Ft Worth and he got fitted for his tux for the wedding. He was so excited, told them all of his information and stood still with his 'man' face while they measured him. Then he tried on the coat and shoes with pride. I can only imagine what he'll think on the day of the actual event. I just hope he sticks to his job and doesn't try to perform the ceremony.
Ace (he is just now getting old enough to be vocal and funny…and he is in his own quirky way)
We went through a big Frozen phase (might still be in it if we hadn't gotten TV) and Ace would always refer to it as Woo Hoo Family, because that's his favorite part of the movie. Wish you could hear the sound bite of him saying "woo hoo, family!" and trying to wave by wiggling all of his fingers separately. I'll also catch him randomly quoting different parts of the movie, or singing songs. He loves to sing, especially when he has his guitar. In fact, when a good song comes in he runs from the room to get his guitar and comes back playing and singing.Speaking of songs he recently decided on two new favorite songs. One is Rocket Man, which he heard while in the truck with Daddy. He sings "I think it's gonna be a long long time" over and over. The other is God's Not Dead and he can pretty much sing the entire chorus….I must say it's darling!
He is my sweetest boy and loves cuddling, kisses and hugs. Actually he prefers to be on you rather than beside you, which can get a little irritating. I randomly call him my Chiquita Banana and he's taken to that nickname and loves it. He'll be feeling extra sweet, climb up in my lap and whisper "I your Quita banana." I melt and say "That's right, you sure are." So now we've come up with other names for each family member dealing with fruit. Cooper is the Crazy Coconut, Tucker is the Sweet Papaya, Daddy is the crunchy apple and I'm the juicy pineapple (teaching adjectives while I'm at it). But Chiquita is the most special for sure! He still loves his milk but when he's tired and drinking he's changed his little habit. Before (and he still does sometimes) he would grab his earlobe and stroke it, but now he puts his finger in his bellybutton and wiggles it around….weird I know.
Me and Chiquita
Ace is also the super picker upper. He enjoys helping picking up and while Cooper is writhing on the floor, whining about picking up, he is busy getting all the toys and putting them in their place. And I mean in there place, not just in a corner. He is big on putting things where they go and it bothers him when things are not where they are supposed to go. He also loves to turn the TV off…especially when Cooper is in the middle of a show. Oh it makes Cooper so mad!! But I have to laugh just a little at how Ace knows just how to push Cooper's buttons. I think Ace inherited the TV regulating from Dalton. In that scenario I am Cooper and Dalton is Ace…..and I react about the same way as Cooper does! One show that Ace will watch is Blue's Clues, he likes to sing the mail time song too. He's also a fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and tries to do the Hot Dog dance each time.
Dalton got a new truck (yes, big news!). It has bluetooth or something in it that allows him to make calls through his truck radio and speakers. When the phone call is over, the electronic voice says "phone call completed." Ace thinks it's hilarious and anytime we get into Dalton's truck says "phone call paleeted." On our way home from a family trip to Ft Worth recently he and Cooper would call each other on our phones and hang up just to hear it, then they'd laugh hysterically.
Ace also has a good buddy named Asher. It works out well since his mom is my good friend. We have lots of play dates together and they are always so fun to watch. I think Ace is coming into his own more now that Cooper is at school a few days a week. He actually gets to be the big brother, which is good for him and his independent responsibility. Of course he's also getting a little bossy and tells Cooper what to do, usually echoing when I give Cooper a command.
Tucker (he's growing so fast, I can't believe he'll be 1 year old in a little over 2 weeks)
As of last week Tucker is walking! Walking everywhere and getting into everything. But before he decided he was ready to walk he would tease me when I tried to get him to stand and walk alone. I would stand him up next to something, move a few steps away and then try to get him to come to me. He'd take a step, smile and drop down to the floor. Then he's stand and repeat. He liked that he could control me I think, ha! He's pretty fast wherever he goes and usually he's heading for the bathrooms or washroom any time he gets free.
Yes, he's still a large boy! He weighed 24 lbs 9 oz at 10 months and he's grown since then. He wears mostly 18 month clothes and they're not loose. But I love his chunkiness and kissable cheeks. He eats more than the other boys sometimes, and is a fan of real food. Just this week he's started to drink whole milk too…but only from a bottle. I think he's going to be my hardest to wean to a sippy cup from a bottle.
He's such a happy happy boy and friendly too. He smiles that flirtatious smile with his dimples and you can't help but smile back (and then kiss those chubby cheeks.) He gets mad when he's hungry though and you'd better feed him right away! He goes to bed pretty easily, though Dalton is better at putting him down than I am. He does the bottom pat and it works well. Unfortunately he's discovered our bed and loves it. All of the boys were sick with a cold a while back and so I, in my middle of the night desperation, brought him to our bed rather than stay up with him. Now he wants it often. On the one hand I don't mind, love the snuggles. On the other hand, it gets a bit crowded! I told Dalton we need to ask Santa for a king sized bed for Christmas.
Combo Bits
Together these boys entertain themselves well. Whether it's mimicking Daddy by hauling cows, playing constantly with their little machines at the kitchen table, or following each other around outside, they are the best of friends. Of course they also fight like the best of friends, but that's ok. Lots of opportunities to teach patience. I've stopped the sharing rule. If one is playing with a toy, he gets to play with it as long as he wants to. Then when he's finished the other one can play. I also try to squeeze in a Golden Rule and others before yourself lesson with this, but I'm not sure it's taking quite yet. Yes, it makes for a bit more drama at the beginning, but it also eliminates the coveting looks that one gets the entire time he has the toy, and the pressure of playing only for a minute. And really it teaches them to cope with not getting their way, and that is a lesson they need to learn early in this world because they won't always get their way or their turn at things. They are both selfish and will nag the other the entire time they have a toy if they know they'll get it in a minute, but when they are told to leave it alone it helps a little. And let's face it, I don't have time to sit and count to 20 and say switch over and over. Still working on that covetous heart that they have (still working on the covetous heart I have!).
They always get along when they're like this. ; )
One balance that we are forever trying to find and stay in is the balance between boys being boys and too much rowdiness. I think my goal is respectful rambunctiousness, and I'm not sure we've gotten there yet. Part of the problem is that I'm pretty rowdy myself and I kinda admire what these boys are capable of, even though I should cut them off at times instead of watch in awe. One evening we were hanging out and the boys were getting past the rowdy line. They climbed onto the coffee table and leapt off in perfect sync. Dalton and I looked at each other, impressed, then he attempted to tell them never to do that again. Like I said, impressive but inappropriate. The other day I was on duty and they climbed up onto the couch, opened the shutters and were looking out. I let them, it was harmless. Until I heard crying and came back to find that they had opened the window, climbed into the ledge and Ace fell through the screen into the bushes, and hit his head. Thankfully he was ok, and thanks to my oils, he didn't even bruise or get a big goose egg. Lesson learned there though.
Rub a Dub Dub 3 boys in a tub
We went for a walk and got to see this plane fly around and then land right across the road.
In addition to being very active, my guys also like to talk a lot. Yes, Ace too. I was hoping he'd be a little less chatty than Cooper but that is not the case. The only problem with him is that he has such a soft voice that when he's talking to me in the car we have to do many rounds of "What?" and repeat and "What?" before I understand him. Unfortunately I am as talkative and silly as the boys (as Dalton would gladly tell you) and oftentimes my silly comments get picked up by the boys. One such example is when I started singing a silly country song with a chorus that begins "5-1-5-0 somebody call the po-po." What I was doing with that song in my head is a mystery, since it's goofy beyond goofy. But in any case you can bet that they picked up on that line in an instant and it became a regular for weeks. Not only was it repeated at home, but when we saw a police car driving through town, we heard it echoed through the car. (Sidenote: Dalton has also been guilty of saying that when he sees cops so I'm not the only one to blame.) We were pleased when that phrase became less popular at 4709 Red Top Rd.
Now, however, I'd gladly have it back in place of their current talk. This they came up with on their own, and Dalton assures me it's just a normal boy thing to be obsessed with it. But I'm not so sure and definitely not happy to hear it. It's actually become worthy of discipline now because (particularly Ace) they won't stop it. So what is it? Poo Poo Tee Tee talk. Yep, constantly. Calling each other that, just saying it randomly, bringing it up at the table. It's awful. Ace even finds ways to work it into songs or jokes or conversations…it's really quite witty, but still potty talk. Embarrassing.
We read constantly around here. At nap time we always read 3 books and at bed time we do the same. I like to get creative and add some accents or different voices when I read, but the boys apparently don't care for it. Lately, any time I try to jazz up the story, the tell me "Please don't read like that. Read in your normal voice." At least they're polite about it. I'm bummed because Cowboy Jose and Dessert Rose sure don't sound right without their respective accents. Hoping this is just a phase. Speaking of books, we checked one out for the halloween season about a truck that has a flat tire on a spooky night, then finds a golden tire and then gets followed by someone who keeps saying "who took my golden tire?" We have read this book at least 2 times a day for almost two weeks now, per Ace's request. And Ace always asks, in his scratchy voice, "can we read whotookmygoldentire?" I'm ready for that book to be due!
At the library. They love going here and talking to Ms Betsy, their favorite librarian.
They even know what her car looks like so they look for it when we drive by.
And of course the machine love affair continues. They play with theirs constantly, tell anyone who will listen about the machines, tell me about them and what they are going to do with them (Cooper is particularly wordy and long winded…I mean I can only take so much farming talk). And when we are in the car they yell out "Front Loader! Bulldozer! Skid Steer! Excavator! Crane Truck! Garbage Truck! Seed drill! Pulling machine!" any time that they see one of those machines. Sometimes I think they're just making it up, but sure enough there will be some yellow behind a building or driving by on a trailer.
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
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